Knitting mechanism



Sept. 2. 1924. 1,506,790

5. E. TAFT I KNITTING MECHANISM Filed Feb. l8. 192B 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I mere/570: Sydney 1?:

Sept. 2, 1924.

S. E. TAFT KNT-TTING MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Tozft, MS.

I nveniior:

neg .E'.

Sept. 2, 1924., 1,506,790

S. E. TAFT KNITTING MECHAN ISPA Filed Feb. 18 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet. 3

// Eaves-2w 303":

my]? T by Syd Q IJ'Z chine employed for this Patented Sept. 2, 1924.

um'rso STATES 1,506,790 Aren't FFICE.

SYDNEY 11 rain, or rnnmmenam, massacnusn'rrs, assmnon r0 HEMPHILL comrm, or CENTRAL FALLS, nnopn ISLAND, A conrona'rzon or massacnusnrrs.

KNITTING MECHANISM.

Application filed February 18, 1920. Serial No. 359,646.

To all wliom z't may concern:

Be it known that I, SYDNEY E. Tnr'r, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Framingham, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have in vented an Improvement in Knitting Mechanisms, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts This invention relates to knitting machines and more particularly to knitting machines employing a series of knitting instruments each having independently movable loop forming elements and the principal object of the invention is to provide means to position and function said elcments for narrowing and widening or fashioning.

The invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts set forth in the following specification and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown merely for the purpose of illustration one type of a machine embodying the prin ciples of my invention wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a development in diagrammatic form of the various cams employed for functioning the knitting instrument and in relatively moving the members composing said'instmment during the loop forming operations and also preparatory to operations of said members for narrowing and widening;

Fig. 3 is a d tail front view of the instep cams and theirsupporting stand;

F ig. 4 is a vertical detail section on line 44 Fig. 3 illustrating the cams employed in moving the members of the knitting instrument to their idle or inoperative positions and for restoring said members to their operative positions;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of one-of the knitting instruments greatly enlarged.

For convenience in illustration 1. have shown the present invention adapted to a circular knitting machine wherein the needle cylinder revolves while the cam cylinder remains stationary during the knitting operation and the particular type of mapurpose is that commonly known as the armor machine disclosed in the Patent No. 933,443 granted to J. D. Hemphill, September 7, 19b9, to which reference ma be had; It is however distinctly to be 1111 erstood that the invention. is not limited to the type of machine shown but may be applied to any of the well known types either circular or straight knitting machines or to machines wherein the knitting: cams and those associated therewith are revolved while the needle cylinder remains stationar Furthermore the machine described herein is for knitting hosiery wherein the heel and toe pockets are produced by narrowing and widening operations, but notwithstanding such. a disclosure the invention is clearly applicable to machines adapted for knitting other articles of manufacture such as gloves, mittens and the like wherein the portions thereof are fashioned by narrow ing and widening.

Inasmuch as certain general parts of the mechanism herein shown may he and preferahly are the same as those shown in said Hemphill patent I have designated such parts by the same reference characters as are employed in that patent. Thus the machine frame is marked a, the rotary needle cylinder is marked N, the non-rotatable cam carrier H and the annular portion or ledge of said cam carrier is marked M.

The needle cylinder N is rotatably mounted upon a flat table a, constituting the top of the frame a and receives its motion through suitable mechanism characteristic of said Banner machine. The main shaft .9 is journalled to rotate in said frame a and has thereon pulleys p, p and 'p indicating respectivel the quick speed; slow speed and loose pul eys thereof from which the various parts of the machine derive the particular speed required to perform their respective functions.

The pattern shaft is indicated in F ig. 1 at s and has mounted thereon pattern or cam drums f and g; f is the pattern ring on the drum f which engages the member b carried by the clutch shiftin'g lever b which lever is employed in the usual manner for the purpose of controlling the shifting of the clutch b when it is desired to change the motion of the machine from rotary to reciprocatory or vice versa.

The details of the mechanism controlled by the pattern ring f, through which the needle cylinder is reciprocated forward and bodying in their construction relatively or indt pendently-movahle loo forming elements consisting of a yarn rawing element 2 anll a sheath or quill 5) preferably, though not essentially, of the type disclosed in my Patent 1.398.81 granted November 2!), i921 and, as shown most clearly in Figs. 2 and 4 thereof. The yarn drawing element 2 has a hook 4 wherewith to seize the yarn and draw the same through the old loop supporter] as in the usual manner of knitting by the knitting instrument" while the sheath or quill 3 includes a loop penet ating or entering member 5 herein comprising a point 6 arranged at the hack of the yarn drawing element and adapted to more in a groove (3' provided therein. Furthermore said loop entering membenis connected herein along one side of the yarn drawing element by means of an inclined wall 5' (see Fig. 5) with a hump 7 disposed at the front edge of the sheath, which during certain periods in the loop forming operation, engages the old 100 supported by the shank of the needle an separates the same from the new yarn that is being fed to the hook by the usual yarn feeding instrumentalities shown at 8, Fig. 1 and which instrumentalh ties mainly embody the principal features of the yarn feeding means of said Banner machineand therefore require no further description, said hump itlso constituting a guard for the-point of the hooked member to efi'ect the shedding;' of said loop by said hooker] member.

As previously stated the elements of said knitting instrument are-independently movable, that is means are provided for imparting to the yarn drawing element; movements herein entirely independent of that imparted to the sheath elements and the means ,for accomplishing t'is result herein consistof suitable rams which will now he described.

The yarn drawing elements 2 are each provided with butts some of which may he long as shown at 10 while others may he short as shown most clearly at 11 in Fig. S3 and when the machine is equipped to knit hosiery as in the present example the bulls of the knitting instruments will he half long and half short, the long butts heing arranged in one series and the short butts in a separate series. The sheaths 3 are similarly provided with long and short knitting butts 12 and 13 respectively and these butts are functioned in the manner hereinafter described. [he long and short knitting butts 10 and 11 of the yarn drawing-elements are all functioned by the knitting came 14 during rotary knitting and during portions of reciprocating knitting, but as is customary at certain stages in the knitting operations as for example when producing narrowing and widening, one series of said knitting instruments are moved out 'of action so that the hults thereof will not engage the knitting rams and will therehy remain idle (luring such operations. It. is for this reason, therefore. that ball of the butts of said knit-- tin instruments, as For example the butts. 11) are made longer than the butts it so, that the needles which are to he rendered inoperative may be engaged by certain instruments and moved to their inoperative posilions ithout producing any interruption in the knitting by said short hutt instruments. The means for effecting this result herein eonsists ot' cams similar to the usual. instep rams of the Banner machine referred to, said rams being indicated at 15 and 16. The

ram i5 is as usual arranged outsiue of the (cam cylinder M and is therefore capable of engaging: only that portion of the long butts it) whirh extends beyond the short hutss l1 and when said cam 15 is in a certain position, that is in the position shown in full lines Fig. 3, said long butts will then be engaged therehy and raised to the positions shown at Fig. 2 or the idle level thereof. The cam it; is similar to the usual needle restoring! oaui ('lfll')lt) \'0(l in stocking inachines oi; the character described and is arranged to engage all butts and is mounted together with the. cam 15 upon a suitable slide 18. (see Fig. 3) bracket or stand 19 in turn mounted upon the cam plate ll so as to move with said plate duriup any vertical movement thereof to vary the length of the stitches in fashion ing, or preparatory to transfer; the operation said ram plate heing a feature of said Hemphill Patent 933,443 andheing fnllydescribed therein, no further description thereof is believed herein ueressary:

The rams l5 and '16 are capable of hriug raised or lowered the distance necessary to throw out of action or into action the long hull yarn drawing memhers and means are employed for moving said cams at sele ted st ages in the kuilt in; HHl'ill iou whereby they will h positioned to perform the l'Iuu-tions tated and in the present example i have shown for a t-omplishint these results a lever 20 herein consisting of a bell crank lever pivoted at 21 to a portion of the bracket or stand 19 as shown most clearly in Fig. 1. This lever 20 has an arm 22 pirotally connected at .23 with the slide 18. The other arm 24 of said lever extends downwardly through the cam plate H and is connected hereinhy means'of a=screw 25 with a link 26 having connection at its opion supported in a posits end with the upper end of the clutch shifting lever 6' thus insuring the shifting of cams 15 and 16 at the selected periods in the knittin operation, namely the periods when the c utch is shifted from rotary to reci rocatory or vice versa.

e knitting cams for functioning the yarn drawing elements of the knitting instruments may be and in the present exain ple are shown as substantially similar to the knitting cams of said Banner machine and include an upper central guide member 6 and a lower central guide cam e having a space therebetween sullicient to permit passage of the butts of all of the instruments, and iii addition to said came a and (r are the right and left wed e-shaped knitting cams .c, a? usually terme raise and draw cams. The cams m, m erform substantially the same functions t at the cams m, m of said patent perform but these cams a: are pivotall mounted at as so that the upper ends will be depressed as the u per surfaces .1" thereof are engaged by he butts of the knitting instrument passing along the top of the cam M. These cams are, however,

spring actuated so that upon the passing of said butts from the u per surfaces thereof, said cams will imme lately return to their upper full line positions as shown in Fig. 2. The purpose of pivoting said cams :12 as described is to allow the butts of the knitting instruments to pass in a substantially straight line from the top of the cam M to the point where said butts are raised b reason of the engagement of the sheet butts thereof with the cam surface 30 as shown by the dotted lines in said figure, at which time the sheath element is caused to enetrate an spread the loop,

The unyl er surfaces of the cams .10 which are indicated at w are utilized to draw the instruments whose butts engage said surfaces downwardly to effect the casting oil of the loops therefrom and the formation of the new stitches. The knitting instruments, after passing under said cams :r engage the inclined cam surfaces x of the annular cam M an cause said instruments to be deflected to th top thereof. These cams cooperate with the stitch cams to produce the usual wave-like movements at the knitting points of said instruments when the knitting cylinder N is reciprocating in either direction. The cams at one side only of said set will he employed during rotary knitting to produce such a wave-like movement of said knitting instruments.

There are times, as l have previously inferred, when it is desirable to function substantially all of the yarn drawing elements during reciprocating knittin r as, for example, when portions of the fa ric are being fashioned and the web is being made in an oppositely selvaged strip rather than action but retaining their loops.

as a tubular web. However in the ordinary stocking machine only the short butt yarn long butt instruments being, at such times,

raised to their idle or inoperative level as indicated at A, Fig. 2 and when said short butt needles being operated reciprocatingly the narrowing or widening operations are generally being performed.

In general. practice and in the present example immediately upon the raising of the instep or long butt elements to'thcir idle level the narrowing recess is instituted automatically and in t e following manner:

Pivotally mounted uion the usual cam block I) which carries t e main knitting or needle operating cams above described are two narrowing pickers R pivoted respectively adjacent the stitch earns :11, m and being in the present example substantial counterparts of the narrowing pickers disclosed in said Hemphill Patent 933,443 no further description thereof is believed necessary except to say that the ends of the arms of said pickers are provided with the usual ledges r (see Fig. 2) and are ositioned against the surfaces :1" of said stitch cams so as to be engaged by the first short butt of the series ll during alternate reci u-ocations of the series, this being the usual manner of o eration of saidnarrowing pickers and resu ts in the picking of successive butts at opposite ends of the series from the active love to the upper or idle level A during said narrowing o erations until the desired number of need es have been Withdrawn from At cor taiu stages of the narrowi operations means are provided for instituting the resto ration of said withdrawn needles to effect the widening operations of the labric particularly in the formation of heel and toe pockets and to accomplish this result, widenmg pickers, preferably two in number, are shown at T to cooperate with the usual levelling cam 11', said widening pickers and said ram being constructed andarranged substantially as set forth in said H'cmphill putout so that no further description thereofis believed necessary except to saythat said widening iickers are, at. the proper intervals, raised from the positions shown in full lines, Fig. 2, to the dotted position shown therein so as to he moved pto the paths of the long butts at opposite ends of the series indicated at Awvhereiiy when said series isreciprocatcd past said widening pickers, two of such butts will be engaged y said pickers and restored to their 0 erative position so as to pass into and be lhnctinned by the knitting cams 14 thereby uniting the loops retained by the withdrawn needles with new loops subsequently formed upon said needles by the restoratitm't emof end the functioning thereby of said knitting cams in the usual "well known manner.

In view of the construction of the knitting instruments; or'rather in view of the fact that said knitting instruments include independently movable elements, consisting of the yarn drawing element 2 and the sheath element 3. it is desirable that said sheath elements by given positive and indc pendent movements by independent means and for this purpose cams are provided which cooperate with the knitting cams l4 hcreinbeforc described.

In the present example I have provided A central raising cam 28 disposeddirectly beneath the can) c and provided with a space i3!) between said cams sufficient onl to allow the butts 12 and 13 of said sheath elements to pass. The'cam 528 is operatively inclined at 30, 30 to raise said sheath elements at the proper intervals to cooperate with the yarn drawing elements in the formation of the loops which operations are clearly described and shown in my said patent 1,398,813.

As will be seen lv referring to Figs. 2 and 5 the sheath member 3 is provided with a block3l which constitutes a guide for the front side or edge of the yarn drawing element 52 and also forms a support for and a part of the butt 12 or 13 of said sheath elements. Furthermore said block is cX- tended upwardly a predetermined distance to form a stop 32 against which the butt it] or ll of its you! drawing element is adapted to impinge at certain times in the operation of the machine for example when said yarn drawing elements are being depressed by the surfaces a of the stitch cam w. Hence the Sheath elements of the knitting instruments will. at times, be depressed by the yarn d rawing clclnonls while, at other times as hereinafter stated. said sheaths must be dcflceted by independent cams herein cams :53 which constitute opposite ends of the cam ring or c ylinder M. The coin ringer cylinder M is cut away at. 33 along a line herein snh tantially parallel with the path described by the bulls of the sheaths during the depression thereof by the cams .1 and as iudica 'cd in dotted lines in Fig. 2 the inclined SuIi'ur-c 3 3 terminates at a point slightly in advance for the plane pass ing through the lowermost point imthe knitting wave, that is through the lower corner oi the can] .1: and this cam surface 33 unites at said advanced point with the under edge '12 of said cam ring, which under edge corn stitutes the normal lowermost path of the sheath butts during the knitting operations.

After leaving the plane referred to the butts of the yarn drawing elements engage the surface J2 and are immediately deflected to the upper edge of the cam ring M. At such a time it is desirable to prevent the upw ard movement of the sheaths of the yarn. draw ing elements so deflected and it. is for this reason that the surface or edge 42 of said cam ring is extended to a point slight I in advance of said plane or to the lowermost point of the inclined surface 33, said surface 4:? being engaged. by the butts of said sheaths and retained thereby in their lower operative path B. Naturally where the yarn drawing element slides within the sheath there will be a tendency, where one of, said elements is operated by a cam, for the other element to move therewith and this same tendency exists when the yarn drawing elements are deflected by one or the other of the cams according to the direction of movement of the needle cylinder and when said yarn drawing elements are being lowercd to the st itch forming point of the knitting wave as hereinbefore described. This friction between said elements causes the sheath which, at this time is at the u per level (i (see Fig. 2) to start immediate y to descend with said yarn drawing element but, it will be noted by reference to Fig. 2 that the distance between the upper level (if and the lower normal level B is not as great as the distance from the top of the cam c to the casting off point or bottom of the cam (1', therefore means are rovidecl for limiting the movement of the 5 math so that it will not drop below its normal operating level. For this purpose, therefore, the cam 28 extended at 43 to form ledges against which the butts of the sheaths will strike, said ledges being disposed directly beneath or transversely of the plane containing the lowermost point of the cam surface av and from this description it will be seen that under ordinar; circumstances the block 31 will not be required as a stop to (3341158 the sheath to move with the yarn drawing ele ment as the friction between said elements is suilicicnt the parts have become so worn that the movement of one will not be suflicient to cause the movement of the other. As in the case of the knitting cams of said Hemphill Patent No. 933,443 the cams of the present machine are made double so as to provide similar operations for the knitting instruments during the opposite or reciprocating movements of the needle carrier and a description of one of said sets of cams will sullice for both. During rotary knitting both the long butts l2 and the short butts l3 of said sheaths are operated by one set only of the cams hcreinbefore described. In reciprocat ing knitting, however, only the sheaths having short. butts 13 or about one-half of the knitting instruments remain in pperat on and at this time the narrowing and widening operations take place. For clearness the short butts 11 and 13 of the yarn drawing and sheath elements are indicated in full lines at their operative levels in Fig.

to accomplish thisresult except when lflll 2 it being assumed that the needle is moving in the direction ofthe arrow 3;.

The long butts l0 and 12 of the yarn draw-w ing and sheath elements respectively are, in this figure, shownin their withdrawn p tions in full lines and in the dotted lines of said tigm-e the normal paths of the short butts 11 and 13 respectively of the yarn drawing and sheath elements are indicated in connection with the knitting cams. For the purpose of withdrawing the long butt sheath elements preparatory to the narrowing and widening operations a cam 34 herein designated the sheath withdrawing cam is employed. This cam 34 is mounted upon a suitable slide 35 arranged to slide in guides formed in the stand 9 hereinbcfore described, whereby said cam 34 may be moved,

from one position to another or from s. silion wherein the long sheath butts 12 will pass by the lower edge 36 thereof when travelling along the upper level a, without being deflected by said cam, when occupyin its other position as shown in Fig. 2 sai long butts 1.2 will be engaged and deflected downwardly to the idle or inoperative level of said sheath members. As in the case of the cam 15, the cam 34 is positioned outside of the. cam cylinder M so as to engage only the portions-0t the long butt 12 which project beyond the short butts 13 thus pre= venting withdrawal of the short butt sheath elements.

Cooperating with the cam 34 is e restorlng cam 37 which is disposed in a gap 36 formed in the lower portion M of the ring M. and just. for enough below the cam 34 to provide a gap 35 through which the butts of the sheath elements will freely pass. The cam 37 is likewise mounted upon a slide 35 that as said cam 34 is lowered the can).

37 will likewise he lowered and during theraising of said coin 34 said cam 87 will also he raised. The last mentioned movement of said cam 34 effects the restoration of the long butts 12 of the sheath elements which previous to this were travelling alon the lower or inoperative level C as clearly s iown in Fig. 2.

From the foregoingdescription it will be evident that the yarn drawing elements are raised during the withdrawing operations thereof while the sheath elements are low cred and consequently the movements lof the two sets of cams l5 and 16, and 3'? and 38 must ,be in opposite tlllfut'tluns but it is desirable that they be moved simultaneously in said 0 posits direction and to accomplish this resu t. I have herein provided on extension 39 for the link 26 hercinbefore described which extension has a cam slot 40 formed therein to cooperrtre with suitable projection or pin all LnT'llQd by The slide 35 and as said lever 26 is shifted from side to side by the shitting clutch b, a vertical recipr0- The yarn drawing elements are functioned in substantially the same manner as are the ordinary spring heard or latch needles in a Banner knitting machine and particularly during the narrowing and widening operations thereof, said yarn drawing elements being thrown in and out of operation by widening and nerrowin pickers and said instep needles being wit idrawn or restored by the instep cams 15 and 16 as described.

The use of the Sheath elements however involves additional elements, hence the proriding of the additional withdrawin and restoring cams 37 and 38 therefor. Vhen the and needles or knitting histrurneuts'of the operative series, during narrowing and Widening, are raised by the narrowing ickers in the usual manner the same ten ency for the sheath elements to more therewith, due to friction between the two elements, is present. Hence when the first butt of said series is engaged by the right hand picker in Fig. 2 and raised to the level A, the sheath thereof would, if it were not for the surface 42 of the cam ring M, be cirried upwardly therewith to its upper level (i but owing to the necessity of extending said edge 42 to a point in advance of the vertical plane containin the lowermost corner of said cam a: nature ly the upward movement of the sheath will be retarded at least until said elements have passed beyond the intersection of the surface 33 with the surface 42 but thereafter the sheath will follow said yarn drawing element until the butt thereof strikes the under side of the cam 2 The sheath then travels along the upper level cl until its butt engages the opposite cam surface 33 when said sheath will be deflected to its lower normal level with its butt trevelling in the move along the path B.

In View 0% the tendency of one of said loop formin r elements to move with the other element w 1en said other element is actuated by its cam, the engagement of the short butt 13 of the sheath element with the cam surface when the yarn drawing element of that particular sheath is in its uppermost or idle position, having been raised. thereto by one of the narrowing pickers, said yarn drawing element will be drawn downwardly from said elevated position and unless some means are employed to immediately raise the same, said yarn drawing element will be functioned normally to receive and form a loop whereas the intention is to retain said yarn drawing element at said upper level until the widening pickers have been thrown into operation to restore the same in its natural sequeues. For the purpose of returning the yarn drawing element which has thus been lowered by its sheath, I have herein provided switch cams M disposed upon opposite sides of the knitting cams ll and far enough therefrom so as not to interfere with the operation of the pickers B. These switch cams are shown in their normal positions in full lines, Fig. 2, and have inclined surfaces in against which the deflected yarn drawing element butt impin es and is caused to pass upwardly to the idle level A.

'- With the knitting instruments traveling in the direction of the arrow 3 the butts of the yarn drawin elements which havevhee n thus deflected wil strike against the surface 45 of the left-hand switch cam 44 and He raised thereby to the up er level and when the direction of the nee le cylinder is reversed'said butts will engage the surface 45 of the switch cam at the ri ht and in like manner he raised to their idle evel. It will, however, be seen that the lowermost oint of such switch cams project slightly be ow the path of the butts of the yarn drawing elements assing along the normal knitting level and oliviously these points of said cams will be struck by the assing butts and in order that no harm may he done by such contact, said switch cams are pivotally mounted as shown at 46 so as to yield when struck by said butts to permit the passing thereof without deflection. \Vithin the scope and purpose of the invention springs may be applied to said switrl'i cams to cause them to return to their normal positions as indicated in full lines in said igure.

Following the completion of the narrowing operations or at a certain point in the narrowing operations the widening pickers are raised from their full line positions to their dotted line positions hereinln-l'orc doscribed so as to gradually restore the short butt yarn drawing elements which have prw viously been picked up by the narrowing pickers to their operative positions, and when thes, widening operations take place the same tendency for the shralh elements to be moved with the yarn drawing rlrmenls engaged by said widening pickers will be present and to prevent such movrmont of said sheath elements at this time a guide cam 47 has been provided to engage the butts of,

said sheath elements and. to restrict, or prevent the downward movements thereof which, unless prevented, would cause the butts of said sheatli elements to pass to the lower or idle level C and prevent the normal functioning of said sheath elements coincident with the functioning of their respective yarn drawing elements. In other words should the butts of said restored knitting instruments pass below the cam 28 rather than above as in the normal operation, the loop penetrating member of the sheath will not function to spread the loop and guard the point of the needle hook and in consequence thereof the loop retained upon the yarn drawing element at this time will fail to be cast oil but will, together with the new yarn presented to said yarn drawing element, enter the hook remaining upon the same until a subsequent raising of the cam 37 is affected to restore all of the lowered sheath elements to their normal operating level.

Although I have illustrated in connection with the present invention a yarn drawing instrument similar to that employed in my said Patent 1,398,813, it is clearly within the scope and purpose of the invention to employ any type of knitting instrument wherein yarn drawing sheath elements are rovided andaequirc independent or relative y slid ing movements to effect the formation of a loop thereby,

While I have herein shown and described merely for illustrative purposes one specific embodiment of my invention, and have disclosed and discussed in detail the construction and arrangement incidental to such disclosure, it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is limited neither to the more details or relative arrangement of the parts nor to the specific application llf'lfilll shown, but that extensive variations from the illustrations may he made without departing from the principles thereof.

Claims.

I. Knitting mechanism comprising, in mmhination, knitting instruments each having two loop forming elements operated independently of each other, means severally to l'umtionsaid elmnents during the loop forming operations. means separately to withdraw and restore the elements of selected knitting instruments and picker means to operate upon selected remaining instruments.

2. Knitting mechanism comprising, in combination. knitting instruments having cooperating yarn drawing and loop castin off elements, rams severally to function said elements independently of each other during lhe loop forming operations, simultaneously operated cams separately to withdraw the elements oi some of said instruments and means to operate certain of the remaining instruments for narrowing afid widen: iug. I

3. Knitting mechanism comprising, in combination, a -cries of knitting instruments having relative y slidable loop forming elements, means severally to function said elemeats in the formation of loops, neans to throw the elementsv of, certain of said instruments out of operation in opposite direc- Illilg yarn drawing and casting elemmts respectively provi with oper ating butts, cams res otivsly to engage said butts to function said elements in knit g and other cams respectively to engagethe butts of the yarn drawing and loop castingof elements of certain of said knittin instruments. and remove said elements operative positions at selected stages in the knitting operation.

5. Knitting mechanism comprising, in combination, a series of knitting instruments having yarn drawing and loo casting off elements respectively provided with opersting butts, cams to engage said butts to function said elements in knitting, other cams respectively to engage butts of both elements of certain of said instruments and remove their respective elements from operative position at selected stages in the knit ting operation, and picker means for alternately withdrawing and restoringcertainof the operative instruments to eil'ect narrowing and widening.

1i. Knitting mechanism comprising, in combination, a series of knitting instrumenis each having relatively movable yarn drawing and sheath elements, a portion of the yarn drawing elements and their sheaths having long butts, the am drawing elemenis and the sheaths of the remaining in strumcnts having relatively short butts, knitting cams respectively to function the yarn drawing elements and sheath elements of all of said instruments to produce knitted fabric. and means respective! to withdraw from operative positions the long butt yarn drawing elements and their sheaths.

T. Knitting mechanism comprising, in combination, a series of knitting instruments each having -relatively movable yarn drawing and sheath elements, a portion of the yarn drawing elements and their sheaths having long butts, the am drawing elements and the sheaths of the remaining instrument having relatively short butts, knitting cams respectively to enga the yarn drawing elements and sheaths 0. all of said instruments to produoe knitted fabric, means respectively to withdraw from opera tive positions the long butt yarn drawing elements and their sheaths and means respectively to restore said long butt yarn drawing elements and their sheaths into operative positions 8. Knitting" mechanism comprising, in combination, a series of knitting instruments each having relatively movable yarn drawing and sheath elements, cams respectively to function said elements during the knitting operations and means respectively to throw predetermined of said yarn drawing elements upwardly and their sheath elements downwardly to inoperative positions and ick means to act upon a predetermined combination, a series of knitting instru ments each including relatively movable yarn drawin and loop casting oil elements, came respectively to function said elemen 's. cams simultaneously and independently to move the yarn drawing elements and their loop casting ofi' elements of selected knit ting instruments to their inoperative tions for narrowing and widening and com mon actuating means for the latter cams.

l0. Knittin mechanism comprisin in combination, ttin instruments in cluding relatively sligable yarn drawing and sheath elements, means to effect independent, and joint movements of said elements dur ing knitting, pickers for operating the yarn drawing elements for narrowing and win ening and means severally to act np'on the sheath elements of the instrumenta f rated by the narrowing picker to restore' i nm to normal position in advance of the yarn drawin element thtilreof.

11. 'tting mec anism com rtsmg' in combination, a series of knitting hamle s each including relatively movable" yarn and respectively to ction said elements and cams 15 and 34 resepectively to withdraw in, opposite directions selected yarn drawing elements and said loop casting oli elements from operation-r, I

12. Knitting mechanism comprising, in combination, a series of knitting instruments each including relatiyely movable yarn drawin and 100 casting 01f elements, cams respectively to notion said elements and cams 15 and 34 respectively to simultaneous 1% move selected yarn drawing elements and t eir loop cast' g 06 elements to re spective inoperative positions. j

13. Knitting mechanism compnsm g a series of knitting instruments each incln ing a yarn drawing element and a sheath element, each of said elements having knitting butts, means to engage said butts to function said elements in knitting, pick means to act upon the butts of the yarn drawing e1 nts of selected instruments in damaging and Widening, and a guard 47 to the butts of the sheath elements ct movements of the sheath elements of the yam drawing elements that are actuated by the widening picks. r

14. Knitting mechanism compri in combination, knittin instruments 2% including relatively sli able yarn drawingand sheath elements, means including butts] on sai elements to effect independent and joint movements of said elements during knittiag, pickers for operating upon the hutts of e yamdrawing elements for awning and casting off eiementsmams wideningand means including cams 33 and to act upon the butts of the velements of the instruments following the movement thereof by a narrowing picker to complete the placing of said elements in their inoperalive positions.

15. In a knitting machine, s. needle consisting of a hook member and a separate latch member reciprocnule to effect the required projecting and casting oil movements and movable relativel to effect the cooperation of the hook and latch, means to give an abnornml projecting movement to the hook member to throw the needle out of action, and means to move said latch member in a reverse direction.

16. In a knitting machine, a needle con sisting of a hook member and a separate latch member reciprocable to effect the required projecting and castin -0l movements and movable relatively to e eat the reopen ation of the hook and latch, means to give an abnormal projecting movement to the hook member to throw the needle out of no tion, and means to ell'ect the movement of said latch member simultaneously with the abnormal projection of said hook in an opposite direction to that of said hook to with draw said latch member to its idle position.

1?. .ln :1 knitting mechanism, a series of needles each consiscing of relatively reciprocahle hook and latch members, means to function the needle men'ibers in knitting,

means respectively to engage the hook and latch members of some of said needles and move them to inoperative positions and picker means to move a selected number of the hook members only ofthe active needles from and to their operative positions to narrow and widen.

18. In a knitting mechanism, a series of need es each consistin of relatively renip rocable hook and latex members. means to fi'lnction the needle members in knitting, means respectively to engage the hook and and latch members of some of said needles and move them to inoperative positions, picker means to move the hook members of a selected number of active needles from and to their operative positions to narrow and widen and means to control the movements of the latch members of said narrowing and widenin needles during the picking up and down 0 their hook members.

19. -In a knitting mechanism a series of needles each consisting of relatively reciproceble hook and latch members, means to function the needle members in knitting. means respectively to engage the hook and latrh members of some of said needles and move them to inoperative positions, pickers to more the hook members of a selected number of leading needles lo their inoperative positions to narrow, means to depress the inn-h members of said narrowing i'ieedleg pirkers to resore i-erhiin narrowing needles to knitting level for widening and meansto prevenl. conjoint movement of the latch members of said certain needles during the restoration of their hook members.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

svnnnv E. TAFT. 

